Indian Costumes II - Patkas : A Costume Accessory - In the Collection of the Calico Museum of Textiles [Hardcover] 8186980245, 9788186980248

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INDIAN COSTUMES II

PAT ,. . . . S: a costume accessory IN THE COLLECTION OF THE CALICO MUSEUM OF TEXTILES

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Portrait of a Standing Prince Mughal, third quarter o! the 17th cen1ury Collection Sarabha1Foundation

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INDIAN COSTUMES II

PATKAS: a costume accessory IN THE COLLECTION OF THE CALICO MUSEUM OF TEXTILES

B.N. Goswamy with a Technical Essay by Rahul Jain

VOLUME VI HISTORIC TEXTILES OF INDIA at the CALICO MUSELTM, AHtvIEDABAD, 20()2

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14. PATKA Silk, cotton and gold zari; metal thread fringe ends Principal colours: gold, orange, red, green and brown 165.1 x 48.2 cm; (represented here in actual size) Mughal; western India; 18th century Acc. no.268 Published: Indian Royal Brocades ( 1996), pl. 37 The patka is now considerably frayed and cracked , but must have borne a sumptuous look in its original state. The field , a plain rich red for the most part, features, close to the edge of the end-panels, three spaced out, horizontally placed, broad stripes, each with a scrolling vine and flowers-and-leaves. The flowers in orange-red have a full, heavy-petalled appearance but remain attached daintily to the thin stems that shoot forth from the undulating vine. A fourth stripe, similarly broad and ornamented with the same motif, is so proximate to the end-panel as to form, together with one at the very 'bottom' of the garment, cross-borders framing the main part of the end-panel. Chain-like guard borders in green and gold encase each stripe. The side-borders are relatively broad but have now a considerable number of tears at the edges. Within them, on a darkish green-brown ground , a lso runs a scrolling vine w ith flowers-and-leaves, essentially of the same pattern and colouring as in the horizontal stripes on the field. The flowers have small petals with a prominent dot at the centre; pairs of leaves support them, while single leaves also grow from the vine. The main part of the end-panel is decorated with six tall flowering plants with highly stylised flowers. A sturdy stem supports the entire plant with none of the usual clusters of leaves c lose to it at the base. Instead, broad, veined leaves with pointed ends grow from it in the midst of which flowers nestle. The flowers seem not so much to grow from the plant as to rest on stems , each consisting of several orange petals outlined in red but each topped by a 'petal' that rises straight up, like a kalghi or plume adorning a turban. The move away from naturalism here is marked, but the effect is most pleasant, the contour of the flower staying in the mind for long. There is marked damage to the fabric , especially in the end-panels, for a deep crease runs vertically through the entire patka, marking the point of the first fold. The weight of the material and the tension have apparently taken their toll of the garment over time.

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15. PATKA Silk , cotton and gold zari Principal colours: gold. dark green, light green, pink, red, and brown 368.3 x 48 .2 cm: (represented here in 79% of actual size) Mughal : western India, Gujarat; 18th century Acc . no. 269 Published : Indian Royal Brocades (1996), pl. 35 The field of this finely-wrought patka is filled not with flowers or geometric patterns but with delicately rendered female figurespullis, as they might locally have been called- arranged in staggered rows . The figures woven to a repeat pattern in silver-gilt thread upon a rich green ground are those of a young woman wearing a ghaghra-choli-orhani ensemble, standing holding a flower daintily in one hand . The figures are neatly spaced out: those in one row lace left while those in the row next to it face right, and so on . This is entirely in keeping with the general conception seen in patkas of this level of sophistication where patterning at opposite ends, like in the side-borders or the end-panels , is in mirror images. as if to give the wearer an option while draping it. The sid e-borders are narrow and run along the entire length of the garment. In these, encased within chain-like guardborders, appears a scrolling vine with flower-and -leaves on a gold ground .the flowers in pink with red outlines and the leaves and vine-stem in green . The patterning and the colours seen in the side-borders are repeated in the two cross-borders which frame. as it were , the elaborate end-panels . Only four flowering plants appear in the main area of the end-panels, and not the usual six. The width of the patka being much the same as that seen in so many others of this courtly kind , this only provides an indication of the size of the flowering plants in respect of their width . At the base of each plant is a spray of large serrated leaves in green , bu t above them rise three tall stems filled completely with flowers , not a leaf being vi sible. The flowers remain stylised even when they remind one of antirrhinums in some measure. The pink petals have firm, crisp outlines in red : at the base of each single flower is a bud-like petal in yellowish brown . The ground of the panel is a ric h. glisten ing gold The flowering stems of all the four plants in each end-panel incline in one direction. as if swaying in the breeze. This direction is then mirrored in the panel at the opposite end , the intention c learly being that , when worn , the plants will face each other on the hanging ends of the patka in fron t There is much wear and tear at the sides but especially in the end-panels where a crease runs vertically through the centre of the garment , at the point of the first fold .

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16. PATKA Silk. cotton and gold zari Principal colours : gold, yellow. two greens, pink, red, and brown 228.6 x 48 .2 cm; (represenred here in actual size) Mughal; northern India: 18th century Acc . no. 271 The patka , now grievously cracked and frayed at places, and bearing many tears , was once rich and sumptuous, meant obviously for courtly wear. The field, with silver-gilt thread ground, is covered wholly with long. vertical broad stripes, covering the entire width of the ground right next to the side-borders. Each of these is filled with a scrolling vine and flowers-and-leaves. The flowers. pink and very lotus-like. are full and the leaves sprout in pairs along the undulating length of the vine . Each stripe is edged by a narrow guard-line with a chain-like pattern made up of prominent dots. The side-borders run along the whole length of the garment, and feature essentially the same vine and flowers-and-leaves , which fill the vertical stripes on the field. A small distinction is made, however, in the edging , which has a pattern of diagonal lines. This very pattern is continued on to the c ross-borders above and below the main area of the end-panels. The tall flowering plants filling the main area of the end-panels bear generally the appearance of the stylised plants seen on other rich patkas, but one also notices a clear difference These plants, six in number, seem to rise not from the earth but from a small body of water. if one is interpreting correctly the inteiwoven loops and curves in black and white as the designer's rendering of water. That there is clear intent in the manner in which this flat oval area is rendered is evident. The suggestion that this is a stylised representation of a small water body receives strength from the nature of the plants that spring from it. There is no central stem; instead a cluster of these is seen. each supporting separate flowers and leaves . The flowers, pink outlined with red and a touch of yellow at the centre. come very close to being lotuses that one sees often in Kashmir work. The leaves look even more like lotus leaves, heavy and full as they are, and forming small bowls inside which large (lotus?) seeds are prominently del ineated . It is difficult to think of lotuses growing in this fashion, on tall thin stems rising straight upwards, but the form of the flowers and the leaves raise a strong suggestion . The damage to the garment goes well beyond the usual area of the crease in the cent re; the palka has tears and cracks all over- it. the age of the garment and the problems inherent in the use of heavy materials in profusion clearly showing

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17. PATKA Silk. cotton and gold zarf. metal thread fringe ends Principal colours: gold , red , violet. yellow, two greens, and brown 307.3 x 50.8 cm: (represented here in actual size) Mughal: nofthern India: 18th century Acc. no. 284 Published: Indian Royal Brocades ( 1996), pl . 12AJB In terms of technique, the structure of the patka is much the same as seen m so many other, sophisticated and courtly garments al this kind. But , in its design, it shows departures and a tendency towards innovation while staying broadly within established frameworks and convention. The ground is a rich red , and the field is filled with small floral patterns in golden thread. However, what takes one by surprise is the broad area of the field adjoining the end-panels-one could take a different view and regard this highly decorative area at both ends lo be part of the end-panels themselves- which departs from the patterning on the middle part of the field and features broad stripes, red ground alternating with golden , with floral or vegetal patterning. The stripes with the red ground- the same as the colour of the ground fabric- have. neatly spaced out, and sparsely placed, flowers in gold and green on a stem. The gold-ground stripes have in them a scrolt.ng vine in red with only small leaves sprouting from it, and no flowers. The !lowers on the red-ground stripes, one notices , are placed vertically bul the rows are staggered so that the design rema ins loose . not rigid . The over-all effect is one ol great sophistication, sensitivity. At the sides , there are borders running along the entire length of the patka: the ground here is golden and on it appears a scrolling vine with flowers-and -leaves. The flowers here, one notices. do not appear singly but in bunches of three, pendant or rising up from below, their petals firmly outlined with silken thread . The same pattern appears in the cross-borders which frame the end-panels: gold ground , vine, flowers in bunches of three , small leaves. It is these cross-borders which lead one 10 regard as end-panels only those which appear enclosed by them , and not the striped portion of the field above. The side- and lhe cross-borders have a narrow edging with d iagonally-placed lines. The end-panels do not feature the usual tall !lowering plants: instead , on a rich golden ground , light-violet coloured flowers. supported by a pair of yellow leaves and a th in stem, appear. They are to be seen m staggered rows, sensitively arranged without great density of patterning. One can visualise the effect that the patka must have made when wom: it would be so draped that the stnped portion of the field together wtth the end-panels would form the hanging ends in front, fully visible Just below the knot or the twist at the waist.

A crease runs vertically through the centre of the garment , obviously markmg the point of the first fold in the garment. There 1s. however, no great damage to the pa1ka, lhe side ends and the metal-thread fringe alone showing signs of wear.

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-18. PATKA Silk. cotton and gold zari Principal colours: gold. silver, yellow. red. pink. two greens, and brown 269.2 x 50.8 cm: (represented here in 87% of actual size) Mughal; northern India; 18th century Acc. no.352 Published: Indian Royal Brocades (1996), pl. 39 Like the one at acc. no. 352. this patka has the same technical features as seen in so many other. sophisticated and courtly garments of this kind, but in respect of design it departs from the norms in many respects. The ground is a rich yellow. and the field is filled with tidy, vertically place zigzag patterning, so discreet as to be barely visible at first. However, there is a broad area of the field adjoining the end-panels-once again, one could take a different view and regard this highly decorative area at both ends to be part of the end-panels themselvesfilled with broad horizontal stripes, those with a slightly dark ground alternating with a lighter yellow one: the former with a scrolling vine with flowers-and-leaves. and the latter with very small flowers scattered over the surface. The flowers in the stripe with the vine are p ink and bear a resemblance to morning glory: they are worked in silver, pink and green. The much smaller flowers in the other stripes feature. again, silver, gold and green. The side-borders running along the entire length of the patka have also a scrolling vine with flowers-and-leaves. essentially of the kind seen in the horizontal stripes on the field. The flowers are a little larger. and there is a narrow edge with a chevron pattern encasing the borders. The cross-borders follow the side-borders in nearly all respects-patterning, colour, chevron-edging-and enclose the principal area of the end-panels where six tall flowering plants are brought in. in a row. in a repeat pattern. The plant rises on a sturdy stem, with pairs of broad. veined and pointed leaves appearing along its length; growing from it also of course are large stylised flowers, their form based essentially on the morning glory. They are finely shaded and veined. with a subdued white marking the rims of the petals and a delicate pink the rest of the body. The ground is golden; the plants however appear a little tightly packed into the space, there not being enough room in the panels. height-wise. for them to breathe. A deep crease appears in the centre vertically along the length of the patka. marking the point of its first. sharp fold. This. combined with the weight of the material used, has caused much damage to the fabric. tears and fraying now noticeable at many places.

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19. PATKA Silk, cotton and gold and silver zari: metal-thread fringe ends Principal colours: gold , silver, two shades of green 259 x 50. 1 cm: (represented here in 133% of actual size) Mughal: western India , possibly Atvnedabad; 18th century Acc. no. 411

. Width, selved1e to selvedge: 48.S cm (1'71.-(s•). Six identical plant motifs in green, red, medium red, li1ht yellow, and dark blue on a gold background within horizontal panels at each end; floral vine borden; red field with 12 continuous curvin1 floral vine stripe. in gold. Yellow warp ,tripe the entire width of each vertical 1ide bor• der. One length of gold fringe sewn to each end. L69.24.335-Lengtb, end lo end: 367 cm ( 12' 1#) . Width, selvedge to selvedge: 49 cm (1'7%#). Four identical plant motifs in red, medium red. yellow-green, yellow and dark blue on a gold background within horizontal panel1 al each end: floral vine borders; red field with allover pal• tern of offset rows of small squares in gold. Yellow warp 1lripe the entire width of each vertical side border. One length of gold fringe sewn to one end. L.69.24.260 ( Figure 8)-1.ength, end to end: 244-5 cm (8'::w#). Width, selvedge to selvedge: 49.S cm (1'7~~•). Six identical plant motifs in red, medium red, yellowgreen, 1ilver, and blue-green on a 1old back1round within horizontal panel1 at each end; floral vine borden; yellow• green field with an allover diamond lallice enclosing small

MILTON SONDAY and NOBUKO KAI/TANI have both recei,,ed training in the Textile Museum. Mr. Sonday was formerly an Auistant Curator in charge of Rugs at the Textile Museum, and is now the Assistant Cu.rcuor of Textiles at the Cooper-Hewut Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Smilhsonian Institution, New York City. Miss Kajitani, having specialized in textik conservation, is presently Textile Restorer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. This is the first of a seri.es of collaborative articles dedicated to Miss Irene Errury to whose approach to the study of fabric structures the authors are deeply indebted. 241

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A SECOND TYPE OF MUGHALSASH Milton Sonday and Nobuko Kajitani

Three fragments in the collection of the Textile Museum once formed the ends of long narrow sashes woven in India (Figs. 1, 2 and 3). Each fragment has a selvedge to selvedge width of only one end of a double-ended fabric such as those the authors discussed in the 1970 Textile Museum Journal. What distinguishes these three fragments from the type previously discussed is the entirely different woven structure, used to pattern the horizontal end panels with narrow bands at top and bottom and used also on the vertical side borders. Considering the following features, these three sash fragments are related to the first type of complete sash in concept, style and use. The layouts of the three sashes, if complete, would have been the same with narrow vertical side borders along a field connecting horizontal panels at each end, bordered at top and bottom by narrow bands (Fig. 4). The plants in the horizontal panels would be in their natural growth position when seen from either end of the long sash. There is an even number of plants in each panel and an indication of a central lengthwise fold which, as worn, would have divided the width of the sash and the number of plants in half. The distinguishing structure about to be discussed is restricted to each horizontal panel with its bands and the vertical side borders and, as it makes use of a major amount of metal, adds weight to the hanging ends of the sash when worn. A metal-wrapped silk yarn is used for the background of the floral patterned borders and panels. There is evidence that the three fragments were subjected to considerable pressure when glazed as a finish. The vertical side borders are emphasized by a slight difference in color from the rest of the fa bric by the use of warps of a different color. One of the fragments, T.M. 6.33 (Fig. 3), shows the remains of an additional horizontal band above the panel. Based on these immediate observations alone, these three fragments were certainly the ends of sashes of Indian manufacture for Indian use. The following technical details strengthen the relationship between the two types of sash. The warps are silk, twisted Z and S. The wefts in the heading or finish (Fig. 4, Section ii) are doubled natural or dyed Z-spun cotton. The wefts in Sections b are either multi-colored silk with no particular twist or metal-wrapped silk- narrow strips of gilded silver (7) wound Z onto a yellow silk yarn. The wefts of Section c are doubled natural or dyed Z-spun cotton and dovetailed with adjacent wefts of Sections bthe vertical side borders. The selvedges are reinforced by a single cotton cord, very little of which remains. Several differences between the two types of sash, in addition to the distinctive structures of each, should be noted. The warp counts of the three fragments here range from about 34 to 44 per cm; while those of the first type discussed in the 1970 Journal range from about 62 to 72 per cm. The average selvedge to selvedge width of the three fragments is about 45 cm compared to the average of the first type of about SO cm. The heights of the flowering plants in the horizontal panels of the three fragments

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Fig. 1 Fn,gmtnt ol ont tnd ol a 11.h . Shi planl1 in blut grttn, ytllow grttn and two rtd1 on a gold bKkground within a horizontal pant!. Floral vlrw bordtn. Rtd orang, Htld. HtiJht: 17 cm; width, ulvtdJt to wlvtdJt : 47 cm. T .M. 6.31 .

Fig. 2 Fragrntnt ol ont end of a 11.h. Six plants in rtd. two pinks and yellow on a gold or silvtr bKksround within a horizontal pantl. Floral vlnt bordtn. Dull yellow fitld. Hti1ht: 17.5 cm: w idth, ttlvtdJt to ulwdft : 45 cm. T .M. 6.32.

Fig. 3 Fragmtnt of one tnd of a 11.h . Six plants In blut grttn, two rtd1, pink and ytllow with in a horizontal panel. Floral vint bordt n with at ltHI ont addltional bordtr at top. Dull rtd

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(an average of 10 cm) are about half those in the first group (20 cm). As previously noted, the two types of sash are patterned according to the same concept following the same pattern layout. As in Fig. 4 each sash for the purpose of this dis• cussion can be divided into three sections to distinguish layout as well as structure. Section a designates the heading or finish, the structure of which is shown in Fig. BA,B,C. Section b designates the floral patterned panels and borders, the structure of which is shown in Fig . 7. Section c designates the field , the structure of which is shown in Fig. BA. The major part of the discussion here is focused on the structure used in the floral patterned horizontal panels and bands and the vertical side borders (Fig. 4, Section b).Fig. 7 is a diagram of the structure as used in these areas in the three fragments, but we must first discuss the basic concept of this structure. Fig. 5 is a diagram of th is basic structure which has been described and named in various ways. The term recommended by the Centre International d'Etude des Textiles Anciens is taquett: "weave, derived from reps lance, with two warps, main and binding, and two wefts, main and pattern. The surface is covered by floats of the pattern weft which is bound in tabby by the ends of the binding warp" (Centre International 1964). Nancy Reath and Eleanor Sachs applied the term plain compound cloth and described it as " ... a fabric with the

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Fig. 5 Oiagrim of two facn of th, 51ruclur, comp l,mtn laryu~fls p/11in w,rau, will! i11,wr 11.111rps.

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Fig. 6Twofacn of a fa m111t11ry•Wf/tsp/11inwrawwithin top portions, tht inl"lff warps havr YorishigeSo1i10.

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Fig. 4 Layout of sashn. a: huding and finish . b: horiionul tnd pantls 1nd bands and vt11ical sick borders.c:fitld

Fig. 1 Oiag ri m of th e tt ructure compl, m,ntary·Wffts pklin w,au, with in nt r Wllrps u ustd in T .M. 6.31, T.M. 6.32 and T.M. 6.JJ.Fron/ltftandbndcright.

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Fig. 8 Oiai:r•ms of the- rtla tionship,; of tht st ruc lurts co mplt• mt nlary- u ...J1s p/11i11 W